


I find myself longing

by I_Snort_Matcha



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gift for a friend, M/M, Student? Eren, The relationship between Floch and Eren only lasts a minute, cafe owner! Levi, shit writing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-19
Updated: 2019-09-19
Packaged: 2020-10-24 08:24:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20702921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_Snort_Matcha/pseuds/I_Snort_Matcha
Summary: After being stood up by his boyfriend, Eren is comforted by the cute cafe owner.(It sounds way better than it is.)





	I find myself longing

**Author's Note:**

> This is dedicated to a friend of mine, who was recently stood up in a coffee shop, then somehow managed to go out with the dude that worked there. You know who you are, girl.  
Fair warning for shit quality writing.

Eren’s phone laid on the small table in front of him, the screen facing up to alert him of any incoming messages. The smell of freshly brewed coffee was relaxing, and even though Eren had gotten tea, it didn’t mean he didn’t appreciate the scent. Any chance he got Eren would go to the cafe next to his apartment, grab a small coffee, and bring out his laptop. Sure, he looked like a stereotypical hipster with his fake glasses and beanie; but coffee shops were the best place to kick back, relax, and write. Be it epic romances, angsty hell, or shitty short drabbles, it was here he preferred to be. It beat the hell out of his tiny one bedroom apartment with thin walls and rude neighbors. 

His phone lit up, signaling an incoming message from Twitter. 

  
1:48PM  
[Floch]:   
And make sure you wear that light blue sweater I like.  
You look so good in blue.   
And don't be late! >:(  
  
Eren huffed at the text, his cheeks warming at the compliment. At this point Floch could have told him he looked good in a trash bag and Eren would still blush.  
  
A few months ago, after scrolling through Twitter during a particularly boring Friday night, Eren stumbled across Floch’s account. A cute redhead that mixed music all on his own. Most of it was clips taken from other songs, added effects, and short little songs, but Eren really liked the content he found. So much so that he felt the need to message the man and tell him so.  
  
Which is how they led to where they are now.  
  
After his first message to Floch they got chatting, Eren was positively giddy that the guy was even willing to send him more than one message. It didn’t take long for the flirting to start.  
  
Floch was single, somehow, and Eren considered himself so lucky to be in the man’s radar.  
  
1:57PM  
[Eren]:   
I’m already here :P  
Blue sweater included.   
God, I can’t wait to meet you. 

They picked the date over a month ago, a little coffee shop in the city that wasn’t far from Eren’s apartment and was only an hour from Floch’s place. Floch kept going on and on about how lucky they were to live so close to each other. An hour away was nothing as far as Eren was concerned.   
  
The coffee shop wasn’t one he normally went to, their prices being a little higher than your typical starbucks, but it was way more welcoming than any chain location. Eren sipped his hot tea, a perfectly blended matcha, he let out a small moan at the taste, loud enough for the employee behind the counter to look up from his phone. Whoops.  
  
Eren tapped his fingers over the top of his table, the coffee shop was empty for the most part, not many people coming in after the lunch rush. It was just Eren, the worker (who was now cleaning the counter for the second time since Eren walked in,) and a girl with her nose buried deep in a worn copy of Pride and Prejudice.  
  
2:17 PM  
  
Floch was meant to be there seventeen minutes ago. It would be alright, he always joked about how he was running late to everything. It must have just been wishful thinking to think he would be there on time. Eren showed up forty five minutes early, his drink almost empty, and he was considering getting another one.  
  
This entire time he didn’t want to play with his phone, wanted to save the battery life, but since Floch was running late he figured he’d do something to entertain himself for a little bit. He still had 88% battery life, that would last him until tomorrow, hell yeah for the google pixel.  
  
He’d just reply to a few messages from Twitter and maybe scroll through Reddit a bit. If he heard the door open he’d just put his phone back down.  
  
Eren smiled into his phone, some of his nerves jumping up and down in his stomach. He was going to see Floch soon! Finally! He couldn’t stop thinking of how'd he’d finally see Floch's smile in person, how he’d get to hug him, kiss him, touch him..  
  
2:48 PM  
[Eren]:   
Hey? Is everything okay?  
  
It wasn’t unusual for Floch to stop replying, especially when he was traveling. Eren tended to be the one to start most of their conversations, which always made him feel a bit desperate.. but he couldn't help himself. Not when he was as smitten ad he was.  
  
[Floch]:   
Yes! Just left I’ll be there soon! :*  
  
Eren bit down on his bottom lip, willing himself not to get too upset. _ Just left? _ It was nearly an hour after they were supposed to meet already.. He sighed and got up to order another matcha, a large this time. 

The man behind the counter just nodded from his order, took his money, and moved quickly. If Eren was still single he would have tried some awkward flirting. The worker was attractive as hell, short, but still someone that could be a model instead of a barista. Midnight black hair styled in a handsome uncut had Eren imagining how it would feel to run his fingertips through over the back of his neck, how the man might tilt his head toward for more of Eren's touch. 

Eren shoved away the thoughts when they became too heated, he was waiting for Floch, not trying to pick up some man in a coffee shop. Floch flirted with dozens of other people online, so Eren would try not too let himself feel too guilty for his one misthought.  
  
3:57PM  
  
The second matcha was almost empty, cold to the touch by now, and Eren was still waiting.  
  
[Eren]:   
Babe?   
Are you still coming?  
  
[Floch]:  
Should just be a few more minutes!  
  
4:44PM  
  
“Hey, kid,” The employee was at Eren’s side, looking at his empty throw away cup. If Eren known that he would be staying for both cups of his tea, he would have gotten a washable mug. “We’re closing up in about twenty minutes.”  
  
Eren nodded, too embarrassed to look up, “I was supposed to meet up with a friend, he should be here soon.”  
  
The man scoffed and took Eren’s empty cup without asking, “You’ve been here for over three hours already.” Eren finally looked up, meeting the man’s piercing blue eyes. They told Eren everything he needed to know; what he had been denying this entire time. “Sounds like a shitty friend.”  
  
Eren said nothing, and let his eyes drop back to the table.  
  
He was right. A _ complete stranger _ was fucking right. Eren waited three hours for Floch to show up and he never even sent another text.  
  
4:48PM  
[Eren]:  
Hey  
I’m going to leave.  
  
Floch didn’t reply by the time 5PM rolled around, and Eren never felt so close to breaking like this. Sitting in a coffee shop, alone, having wasted his entire day, and didn’t even have his ‘best friend’ to rant to about it. He should have fucking known better.  
  
This is why he never reached out to anyone, he got hurt too many times. It just wasn’t worth it anymore. This would just be another failed friendship, another stab in his heart that would take forever to heal, and it was his own damn fault.  
  
He was pretty sure he was in love with Floch; and it fucking _ sucked _ to admit that to himself. To admit that Floch didn’t give a single shit about him. He could have at least sent a message and told him he wasn’t coming. This is why he stopped making friends online.  
  
Tears welled under his eyes, threatening to fall, and Eren wiped them away quickly. He wouldn’t cry in public, he would do it when he got home and could hide in the shower, like a god damn adult.  
  
The jingle of keys in the front door pulled him from his thoughts, the worker from before locking up while Eren was still inside. Eren ran his sleeve over his eyes once more before standing from his seat. “I-I’m sorry,” he mumbled out to the worker and grabbed for his bag that was hanging on the back of his seat.  
  
“Shut up,” The man said as he moved his hands to another lock. “Sit back down.”  
  
Eren froze, his bag hanging awkwardly in his grip, “W-what?”  
  
“Sit down,” The worker pocketed his keys and went back behind the counter, his voice was commanding enough that Eren listened. 

A few moments later and a plate was being placed in front of Eren, a chocolate croissant with bit of steam rising from it. Alongside it, a chilled matcha tea, with little ice cubes floating in the green mixture.   
  
The worker sat down across from Eren, with his own glass of a dark hot tea. "The croissant and tea go good together," he said and took a sip of his drink. "Try it."  
  
Well fuck, that broke Eren.  
  
He placed his hands over his face, trying not to let his sobs break through them and let the worker hear how broken he truly was. His eyes were clenched tightly, trying to keep his tears locked inside, but his efforts were pointless. He could feel the wetness leaking onto his palms and slipping down his wrists. One small act of kindness from a stranger was the last straw.  
  
Eren just sat there, crying, and thinking over all of the past interactions with Floch. How Floch was never the first one to text, how he would ignore his texts for hours - sometimes even days, but would leave him on read and still reply to all of his fans. How Floch would build Eren up, make him feel amazing about himself, but then go back and say the same things about other people. And the lies, fuck all the lies. How could Eren be so blind? Floch would say he couldn’t come visit because of so many different reasons.. That his car was in the shop, but then it was magically repaired later the same day. That he was visiting his parents out of state, but was tagged in instagram stories showing him partying in the city near Eren. That he was totally broke but needed equipment for his music, and Eren was stupid enough to save up and buy the man a microphone for his streaming shit; but the next day Floch bought a fucking leather jacket.  
  
There were times, so many fucking times, that Floch would tell Eren how he couldnt stop thinking about him, that he would much rather be with Eren than anywhere else in the world.  
  
And then shit like this happens.  
  
Shit where Eren is sitting in a coffee shop crying his fucking eyes out over a chocolate croissant.  
  
Eren pulled his hands away from his face, his red eyes peeking at the man across from him, who was already holding a napkin out for Eren to take.  
  
“I-I’m sorry,” Eren managed to breath out and take the napkin from the man and rub it over his wet eyes and cheeks.  
  
“Don’t be,” He said with ease, his hand moving across the table to push a large stack of napkins towards Eren. “You’re allowed to cry, just try not to get snot all over my table.”  
  
Eren giggled through his tears, shaking his head and making sure to wipe his nose carefully.  
  
“So, stood up then?”  
  
Eren nodded,” Y-Yeah. We had this date picked for a month.”  
  
The man rolled his eyes, and leaned back in his seat, “What a jackass.” His tone was so nonchalant Eren laughed into his napkin. “I’m Levi, by the way.”  
  
Eren smiled, “I’m-”  
  
“Eren with an E,” Levi said with a small smirk. “You told me both times I made your Matcha.”  
  
The brunette chewed his lip, “I hope I wasn’t rude.. People mess up my name a lot.” Floch called Eren ‘Aaron’ over the phone pretty often, with a quick apology for fucking it up.  
  
Levi snorted, “You weren’t rude at all, but you constantly looked like you were about to shit your pants.”  
  
“Meeting up with my boyfriend for the first time,” Eren laughed softly and rubbed at the back of his neck. “So, yeah. I was pretty close to shitting myself.”  
  
Levi reached across the table and tapped Eren’s phone, waking it up, and showing no new messages. “And it looks like he wasn’t worth it,” Levi sighed and gestured to the croissant. “Eat the chocolate, it’ll help with your breakup.”  
  
Eren sighed and grabbed for his fork, he worked slowly, digging the utensil into the flaky dessert. He hummed when he took a bite, then took a sip of the matcha afterwards. “Delicious,” he said with a grin towards Levi.  
  
“I know,” Levi smiled back before standing from his chair. “It’s my mother’s recipe,” He pushed his chair in and let his hands rest on the back of it. “Come back tomorrow for some more.”  
  
“I’ll get fat,” Eren joked as he took another bite. The chocolate was the perfect amount, not over flowing like you would get at starbucks. 

  
Levi shrugged, “Maybe, but it’s guaranteed to help you get over your ex.”  
  
Eren placed his fork down, his eyes glancing over to his phone to see for any notifications. Nothing. “I haven’t broken up with him yet.”  
  
“Then he’s going to need a damn good excuse for why he stood you up if you do decide to stay.”  
  
Eren just nodded and went back to his dessert, if only he could take Levi home with him and have him make another dozen of these for him to eat in one sitting. The brunette looked over to the glass display, there was one croissant left.  
  
“I'll pack it up for you to take home?” Levi offered.  
  
“Yes, _ please _ .”  
  
Eren left with a baggy and another iced matcha, all on the house.

  
🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐

7:18PM  
[Floch]:  
I don’t know why you left???  
Seriously Eren??  
I got there at 5  
  
Eren’s blood was boiling when he finally got a text from Floch two hours later. Before he replied, he threw his leftover croissant into the microwave.  
  
7:11PM  
[Eren]:  
Oh really?  
Because I was still inside at 5  
CRYING MY FUCKING EYES OUT TO THE EMPLOYEE THERE  
  
7:24PM  
[Floch]:  
I was definitely there at 5  
You must have been at the wrong cafe.  
  
7:25PM  
[Eren]:  
Please stop lying to me.  
  
Eren was trying not to cry, instead focusing on eating his croissant and turning on Netflix.  
  
7:28PM  
[Floch]:  
I would never lie to you.  
  
Eren rolled his eyes.  
  
7:29PM  
[Eren]:  
Seriously?  
The first time we talked to lied to me about your age lol  
Fuck off.  
I’m done.  
I was looking forward to meeting you for WEEKS.  
  
7:33PM  
[Floch]:  
Eren, you look like 19, what 19yo would want to date someone as old as me?  
And you think I wasn’t looking forward to this?  
  
Disgusting. Eren was twenty one, Floch was twenty eight but told Eren he was eighteen. Which he believed for far too long until Floch accidently said his birth year on one of his streams. He let it go when he shouldn’t have.  
  
7:33PM  
[Eren]:  
I WAITED THREE HOURS FOR YOU!!!  
You need a really good fucking excuse this time Floch   
  
7:34PM  
[Floch]:  
Look, I’m sorry okay?  
Rod needed help with something so I went to his place first  
I didn’t expect to be there so long  
  
Eren took a deep breath and looked down at his plate, the dessert was gone and his rage was still there. He should have gotten Levi’s number and begged him to bake more sweets for him. Rod Reiss was Floch’s ex but his ‘best friend.’ Floch swore there was nothing between them, but this wasn’t the first fucking time that ‘Rod needed help.’ It always led to Floch ignoring Eren the entire day and not texting him back for days afterwards, always apologizing with a stupid excuse as to why. It was a miracle Floch was even bothering to text him. God, how did Eren miss all the red flags?  
  
He chose to ignore them, that's how.  
  
7:34PM  
[Eren]:  
So, you picked Rod over me again?  
  
7:34PM  
[Floch]:  
I DON’T PICK ROD OVER YOU?????  
I’VE NEVER EVEN FUCKING DONE THAT???  
WHAT???   
GROW UP EREN OMG  
  
They’ve only been friends for four months, and dating for one month, but Eren could think of about ten times alone that Floch picked Rod over him.  
  
7:35PM  
[Eren]:  
Ha yeah no, you have ALOT  
We were supposed to skype on my birthday, but Rod was lonely after another girl dumped him so you went running to him instead and didn’t text me for three fucking days afterwards  
Then when my dog died, and I just needed someone to fucking talk to, you went to Rod’s house to play Halo isntead  
And lets not forget when he sent me messages telling me that you could find someone better than me AND YOU DEFENDED HIM  
Fuck you, Floch  
Don’t bother contacting me again.  
  
7:38PM  
[Floch]:  
Eren, come on  
I love you  
  
That had Eren blocking Floch without even flinching. He told Floch he loved him before they started dating officially, it was his confession. This entire time, Floch had never said it back.  
  
Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Tumblr - Floch was blocked at every turn. Eren tossed his phone off to the side and turned on Friends. Maybe his life was in shambles at the moment, but at least he could melt his brain with the TV show.  
  
  
🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐  
  
  
“So you’re back,” Levi teased from behind the counter. He didn’t point out the bags under Eren’s eyes or the tear streaks that stained his cheeks. “Can I get you a croissant?”  
  
“Four,” Eren said with no joy and placed cash onto the counter. “And an iced matcha, please.”  
  
Levi prepared Eren’s order while the heart broken adult went and picked a table as far away from any other couples that he could.  
  
A full week had passed, Eren went to his classes in the daze but managed to get his work done, and in that time Floch and Rod started harassing him. They made different accounts to send him messages, telling him what a piece of shit he was, that he was making the biggest mistake of his life. They went far enough to threaten posting Eren’s nudes online, to send them to his parents, to the place he worked. He made his accounts private and turned off all messages.  
  
“You looked pretty fucked up, kid,” Levi put the plate in front of Eren and an extra large iced matcha, even though Eren only paid for a small. “Things not going to well with the boyfriend?”  
  
“Ex,” Eren mumbled and poked his fork into the croissant, it would be his first ‘meal’ that week. Not counting the constant flow of coffee and the kraft singles from his fridge. The only reason he was in Levi’s cafe was because he ran out of coffee and couldn’t be bothered going to the store. “Ex boyfriend.”  
  
“Good riddance,” Levi bumped his mug into Eren’s drink as a toast, even though Eren wasn’t even holding the glass. “I’m coming over to your place tonight.”  
  
Eren nearly choked on his pastry, “What?!”  
  
“You heard me, I’m coming over, I’m bringing some friends, and we’re having pasta.”  
  
Eren shook his head, “No way, my apartment is a mess and I would just cry the entire time.”  
  
“Tough shit,” Levi leaned forward and grabbed Eren’s fork, just to take a bite of his croissant.  
  
“Hey!-” Eren tried to grab his fork back only to have his hand swatted away.  
  
“I’ll come over earlier to help clean up,” Levi said before taking another bite. “Then we’re going to watch terrible movies and eat something besides croissants.”  
  
Eren pouted while he watched Levi eat the dessert he paid for, he had been looking forward to it all day. “And if I refuse?”  
  
Levi paused, his eyes narrowing at Eren, “I will find you, and I will feed you.”  
  
“Did you seriously just quote Taken?” 

"Yeah, I did. So, what time works best for you?" 

  
  
🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐  
  
  
“No, no way, take that shit off,” Levi walked into Eren’s apartment, shoving him away from the front door to let himself in while carrying a bunch of reusable grocery bags in his arms. “Take the sweater off now and fucking burn it.”  
  
Eren looked down at himself, the light blue sweater that Floch loved on him and promised always looked amazing on him. “But Floch-”  
  
“No,” Levi dropped the bags and started grabbing for Eren’s sweater. “I know we’re not exactly the best of friends yet,” Levi mumbled and ripped the sweater over Eren’s head, revealing a beat up and embarrassing Pusheen shirt beneath it. It was a shirt Eren kept from highschool, something his friend Armin bought him as a joke from Hot Topic. “But I promised myself I would never let you wear this fucking thing ever again.”  
  
“Floch said it looked good!” Eren grabbed for his sweater but missed as Levi hid it behind his back.  
  
“It makes you look like a fucking marshmellow, and not in a cute way. Only a fucking jackass would convince you to wear that fucking thing.” Levi walked into the kitchen, with Eren trailing behind him, and found the trash can to shove the sweater into it. “I’ll get you a new sweater, something better, now fucking start cleaning.”  
  
When Levi said he would come over to help Eren clean he thought he was joking, but here they were, dusting Erens blinds (which hasn’t been done in the three years Eren lived there,) and actually making the place look livable.  
  
Once Levi felt that it was clean enough to start cooking, he left Eren to keep going while he did his thing in the kitchen. As far as Eren was concerned, he could use his oven as a storage for ugly sweaters since he never used it.  
  
But while Eren was on his hands and knees, scrubbing at a build up of soap in the bottom of this bathtub, he could smell whatever Levi was cooking and almost started drooling - it made him work even faster. He left the bathroom as it was, no wet towels on the floor and a freshly cleaned toilet for his guests he’d never met.  
  
“You must be Eren!” A woman stood at the kitchen table, a grin that reached her glasses filled her face once she saw the apartment owner. She was busy grating a hunk of cheese into a thick powder. Eren didn’t own a grater, which made him think Levi was smart enough to bring his own.  
  
“Yea,” Eren gave a tiny wave and walked slowly into the kitchen. Levi stood at the stove, stirring a light white sauce, with a tall muscular blonde standing beside him. “That’s me.”  
  
The two men turned back to look at Eren, the blonde offering a nod and a smile, while Levi said nothing and went back to cooking.  
  
“I’m Erwin,” The blonde said and left Levi to hold his hand out to Eren. “And that’s Hanji working with the cheese.”  
  
Hanji dropped the cheese and thrusted a hand over the table for Eren to take before he even finished shaking Erwin's hand.  
  
“Don’t shake her hand,” Levi warned. “She smells worse than the cheese she’s handling.”  
  
Hanji gasped and glared at her friend, “I do not!”  
  
“Dinner will be ready in a few minutes,” Levi moved to Hanji to grab the cheese, apparently not letting her finish. “Go turn something on to watch while we eat, get out of my kitchen,” He shooed them away by waving his hands towards the living room area. Eren smiled to himself, technically that was Eren's kitchen; but he wasn't about to point that out.   
  
Eren led the other two to his couch, where they all sat down and browsed through Netflix.  
  
“So…,” Eren cleared his throat, unsure how to talk to two people he’d never met before. The whole situation was bizarre. “How do you guys know Levi?” That was a good enough start, right?  
  
“I met Levi in college,” Hanji answered first. “I caught my lab coat on fire, and Levi was able to patch it up for me,” she looked over to the male that was now attempting to plate their meals with barely any room to work.  
  
“I couldn’t stand seeing her walk around with a giant hole in the front of her jacket,” Levi said from the kitchen. “She looked like a fucking mad scientist.”  
  
“It was a good look!” Hanji shouted from the couch.  
  
“It definitely wasn’t.”  
  
Before the two could start arguing, Erwin spoke up, “My car broke down and I was late for a final exam.” Eren took his attention away from Hanji and Levi, Erwin’s soft smile making him feel more comfortable while talking to strangers. “He pulled up with his bike, dressed in full leather, and fixed me up in just a few minutes,” Erwin chuckled. “I was sitting on the side of the road for over an hour before anyone decided to actually help.”  
  
Levi began placing plates of food on Eren’s coffee table and snorted at Erwin, “Anyone would be afraid of helping the giant blonde on the side of the road. You were in fucking sweats, you looked like you were on the way to the gym and not the bar exam.”  
  
Erwin laughed and grabbed one of the plates, “I’m still thankful.”  
  
Levi rolled his eyes and went to grab the last plate. Hanji and Erwin dug into their food, not saying anything, and thankfully not pointing out how Eren had nowhere for them to sit beside his very much worn couch. A plate sat in front of Eren, filled to the edge with thick noodles, a white sauce, pieces of chicken, and two slices of garlic bread. He didn’t miss that he had twice the serving size as Levi’s friends.

"Scoot," Levi stood next to Eren, not giving him much time to move out of the way before he was sitting down beside him. "What are we watching?" 

Netflix was still pulled up, playing nothing. 

Levi clicked his tongue and grabbed the remote from the coffee table, "We need something violent." 

"Why violent?" Eren questioned, his food still sat in front of him, untouched. 

"This is Levi's breakup pasta," Hanji said between bites, Eren darted his eyes away from her overflowing mouth. "He makes pasta, then we watch a movie… Usually something terrifying to make us fear ghosts more than exes." 

Levi kept his eyes on the TV screen, scrolling through various horror and action films, but said nothing to Hanji's words. Which must have meant they were true. 

Break up pasta, a movie, and three basic strangers in Eren's apartment on a Friday night. Definitely not how he saw the start of his weekend going. 

"How about John Wick?" Erwin asked, making Levi pause on the title. 

Levi shook his head, "The beginning is too sad. Eren needs something with nonstop violence." 

Hanji squealed at the screen, "Oh! The notebook!" 

"Why the fuck is that under action?" Eren blurted out. 

Levi shrugged and kept going, but nudged Eren in the side to grab his full attention, "Eat." 

With a sigh, Eren finally grabbed his plate to take a few bites. And holy shit. It was the best pasta he'd ever had in his entire life. "This is delicious," Eren said quietly, mostly to himself. 

"Of course it is," Levi replied, finally having settled on some Netflix original horror movie for them to watch. He was cocky, but Eren liked it. 

"I know this is weird," Levi whispered to Eren as the movie started, the opening titles splattering across the screen in poorly done CG blood. "But we'll take baby steps, in no time you'll be over Floch." 

Eren nodded, a noodle hanging from his mouth as he sucked it up, "That sounds good. Really good." 

Somehow, being stood up by his ex wasn't such a bad thing anymore. Hanji's laugh beside him and Erwin's shushing her felt right at home. 

Levi relaxed back in his seat, one arm swinging behind Eren's back and resting over his shoulders. While Eren watched the blood bath in front of him, he couldn't help but wish that he met Levi first. 

🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐

  
Eren waltzed into the coffee shop, his book bag hanging over one shoulder while he walked in with a frown. It's not that he didn't like working in the shop with Levi, he loved it, free tea and croissants anytime he wanted was more than enough incentive to get him to work. Only three weeks had passed since he started and he was at the point where he could create a perfect heart with the milk of a latte; and that was a damn good feeling. 

It was the shit that happened last night that had him dreading work.

Hanji had come in the previous afternoon, the excitable woman waving her new camera in the air like a weapon. She took some getting used to, it was like being friends with an adult that was constantly high, because how can someone be that happy _ all the time? _

Eren agreed to be in a photo with Levi, his long arms wrapping around the shop owner and over his shoulder, smiling while he waited for Hanji to take the picture. Levi didn't smile, his eyes were avoiding the camera, but Eren absolutely loved it. 

"Tag me in it!" He said before Hanji left the shop. Which was a mistake. 

Hanjibonji: My two coffee shop cuties!   
@jeagerbombs @levistea

Eren loved the photo, it was slightly edited to match Hanji's style, the hanging bulbs that hung behind them turned into boca, framing them perfectly. Levi looked grumpy and close to shoving Eren off of him, but it quickly became Eren's favorite photo of the man. 

eagerbombs: I need a print of this!   
Hanjibonji @jeagerbombs: I'll bring one tomorrow! 

A simple enough exchange, it's was the comments a few hours later that had Eren diving right back into a funk. 

Rodreiss7: Wow. Already moving on?   
Rodreiss7: He's not even cute.   
Rodreiss7: You need to get a fucking life.   
Rodreiss7: Like you'd deserve anyone after what you did you Floch, you fucking piece of shit.  
Hanjibonji @Rodreiss7: You look like a goblin. 

After that, the comments stopped. Eren assumed that Hanji blocked Rod, but the comments still stung. He just wanted to move on, but the constant harassment was making that difficult. 

Eren was a mess that night, he went through his accounts again, blocking anyone that looked even remotely suspicious, he locked down all of his accounts, making it so hopefully no one could find him again. He was half tempted to delete his Instagram, but he didn't want to miss out on any other pics Hanji might post of Levi..

"What's wrong?" Levi asked when Eren walked past him and into the back. He left his bag in Levi's office, where he always put it during his shift, and grabbed an apron off one of the walls. 

"Did you see the comments on insta last night?" Eren asked when he went back to the counter, Levi was sipping on a cup of tea since they had no customers. 

"No, show me." 

Eren sighed and grabbed his phone from his back pocket, he went it Hanji's post and handed the cell over. He felt awful as Levi scrolled through. More were added since last night, Rod and Floch made more accounts to leave more comments, eventually it got it the point where Hanji had to change her account to private. 

"So what?" Levi asked and passed the phone back over. 

"What do you mean 'so what'!?" Eren huffed and jammed his phone back into his pocket. "They won't fucking leave me alone!" 

"These people are online," Levi said with a shrug. "You'll never meet them in real life, they literally have no power to you and don't fucking matter." 

Eren felt his jaw drop. It couldn't actually be that easy could it? 

"So what if Floch and Rod keep bothering you? Block them and move on, honestly they have nothing better to do and the only reason they keep doing it is because you react to it," Levi placed his mug down, one hand reaching up to close Eren's jaw. "Ignore, block, repeat. They'll eventually give up." 

"Just like that?" Eren mumbled. 

"Just like that," Levi gave a small smile, something that didn't happen often and Eren loved that he was the one able to pull it from him. "You're so special, Eren. Any man would be lucky to have you, so please stop letting these two ruin your nights for no reason. 

Now if only Eren could just tell Levi that he wanted him to be the 'lucky man.'

Eren grinned in return, "You're right. I'm going to do exactly as you said." 

  
"Good...Now if you really want to piss them off…," Levi trailed off and grabbed his own phone. 

"I thought the point was to ignore them?" Eren asked and laughed when he saw Levi pull open the camera app.

"Doesn't mean you can't have fun with some idiots online," Levi held the phone out in front of him at an angle before waving Eren over to get into the photo. 

Eren tucked his head next to Levi's, resting his chin on his shoulder, he smiled and waited for him to take the picture. 

"Fuck, you're cute," Levi chuckled, it wasn't the first time he'd said that to Eren. But, it was the first time he saw his face after it was said, his cheeks were red but he was positively beaming into the camera. 

Levi's thumb tapped the screen, resulting in another photo that Eren was planning on having Hanji print for him. 

In the four short weeks that Eren knew Levi, he had become absolutely smitten with the man. He loved how the demanded a perfectly brewed tea first thing in the morning, that his apartment was spotless yet welcoming at the same time, that he learned what Eren's favorite meals were and made them on a regular basis, that he always insisted Eren spend the night when he was over too late. And when that happened… Eren loved that when he woke up in the morning.. Levi was wrapped comfortably in his arms, almost like they were meant to share the same bed.

"Let's do a few more..," Levi kept the phone out, shocking Eren. This was probably the longest amount of time that he'd had his phone out at any given time. 

Eren moved in closer, his arms wrapping under Levi's arms and over his chest. His crush on Levi was ever growing while Floch was just fading in the distance into something he'll never care about again. 

In this time, Levi treated Eren better than anyone else ever has. He listened to him when he cried, laughed at his stupid jokes when they weren't actually that funny, and he was aways honest with him. Everything just felt right. 

And with Levi in his arms, he finally knew he was truly better off.

Before Levi took the next photo, Eren turned Levi in his arms and pressed their lips together for the very first, but definitely not the last, time. 

levistea: @jeagerbombs you're lucky you kiss better than you make tea, otherwise you'd be fired by now.   
jeagerbombs @ levistea You love me anyway.   
levistea @ jeagerbombs: I do.   
Hanjibonji @levistea: About time!♥️🙏


End file.
